Revit, sustainable design, digital musings

Vasari and Dynamo updates

I may need to start using Siri to dictate my blog posts if I plan to keep up this intensity of writing. Need to save my poor tired digits for more important things, like Form making.

First, Dynamo: This new version 0.5.0 supports both Revit 2013 and 2014 as well as Vasari Beta 2 or 3.

Above: Dynamic Relaxation sample file in Dynamo

Note: Not a feature, but a word of caution. Always backup your work. I didn’t anticipate that the C:\Autodesk\Vasari folder would be deleted as part of the installation of these tools, and I have some custom Dynamo definitions that are now residing only in the ether. Learn from my fail.

There are several new and fixed features, including additional tessellation algorithms.

Vasari is now caught up to be Revit 2014 file format capable, making it easier to collaborate with others in your office, should you be ready to deploy the latest and greatest. I certainly recommend that you do, as always: the Revit database does not save to previous versions always continuing to develop to support the future (stop livin’ in the past, Marge). Here’s a few features that you can expect to enjoy:

Vasari Beta 3 now has a proper Autodesk installer, which translates to a longer initial download and also faster load times. you will need to select the best option for your situation.

Install Now didn’t work for me due to some security restrictions by our IT department

Download Now seems to grab both the 32 and 64-bit versions, totaling over 5GBs

I finally settled on Browser Download being the best option.

This version will now run on Windows 8, for those of you who have been waiting to make the switch

There are significantly newer samples for Solar, Wind and Energy studies, which is interesting in itself – possibly hinting at how Autodesk wants to leverage this tool in the marketplace

Render in the Cloud has been enabled in Vasari, and even works from within the Family Editor

Some of the Revit 2014 UI improvements, like the ability to toggle the select settings for links, select underlay elements, select pinned elements, select elements by face and “press and drag” (now inelegantly called “Drag elements on selection”)

Enabling the Energy Model settings seems to be significantly faster – although I still would like to see the Run automatically populated with the Active Design Option Set/Options name pre-populated.

STL Export seems to be part of the install, and displays on the Add-In tab, enabling all your 3D printing needs.